Thanks Steve

I cannot help breaking my self-imposed moratorium to make note of this. Read An era has come to an end by Harish and read words from the man himself.

Some extracts:

Motivation must come from within and as soon as that inner flame is doused, the will to succeed and carry on has only one conclusion. For me it may be as simple as reading an inspirational story, hearing a favourite song, watching some cricket highlights or just having a game of backyard cricket with my son Austin, to get the juices flowing.

The thought of being able to achieve something new everyday, to believe you can improve and to test yourself, have always drawn me to the challenges that lie ahead.

My first emotion upon hearing my selection was panic - am I good enough? Will I be scared and intimidated by the press and notoriety? Can I really be successful?

When I pushed that single through the covers, it was just the greatest sensation, an overwhelming surge of satisfaction, contentment, tranquility and excitement all rolled into one.

When you come through adversity it seems to magnify the sense of accomplishment and heighten the celebrations.

I believe in many ways you can judge a player's worth to the side by how they overcome adversity. Attitude will always be the companion to this trait and without it there will be no longevity in the sport.

Throughout my career I have never needed any extra motivation to do well, because quite simply, all I ever aspired to was to make the most of my ability and never give in no matter the situation. If anything was ever needed to really get me going, it was someone writing me off, or telling me that I couldn't do it. Perhaps this is why I performed so well in Sydney, because the stakes were high and the pressure pretty intense, and as such I was on the edge, nervous but focused, just how I like it.

Sydney to me is the perfect place to retire for many reasons. It's one of the best venues in the world; it's been my home ground throughout my career; all my family and friends will be there; I will be playing against India, a team and country for which I have great admiration; my Indian friends will be able to be part of the occasion through the TV coverage; I am very fit and I am very much on top of my game. I've always wanted to finish on my own terms and right now I feel as if I'm in the best form of my career, and I can't think of a better word for anyone to say about me when I finish other than. "Why?"

I know the above is a redundant copy, but absolutely needed to relish it again.

PKD

Wired Magazine has an extensive article on The Second Coming of Philip K. Dick.

Master of the Seinfeld Domain

I'm currently reading the teachings of the last 20th century philosophical cult, a.k.a Seinfeld and Co. (beware the fact that the famed title score starts to play when you get to this site). I am absolutely shocked that I missed seeing what I think is probably the best of them all - The Betrayal's script has some fantastic writing - it is told in reverse chronological order and is partly set in India. How-could-I-miss-this-among-the-countless-reruns....

While, on the subject, there's even a Seinfeld blog by someone who claims to be Stan the caddy... He's got some wonderful stuff there, including all the episode videos. I don't want to be seen encouraging bootlegging, but if some kind soul out there (note: that means you, my dear B-school friends) wants to use bandwidth in a noble cause, he can download and lovingly burn all of them onto cds - he would only be emulating the master, who found out in The Little Kicks that he did it pretty well. And yes, let me know too.

And to think I felt Seinfeld was overrated and too American to be comprehensible when I first saw it! Woe betide me!

The Best World Cup Final ever

Easily the best ever - England beat Australia in a thriller that couldn't have been scripted better. Any final that has the match tied in the last minute of full-time, then a lead taken in the 1st half of extra time, then the hosts coming back to tie the match once again in the second-last minute of extra-time only to be followed immediately in the last-minute by the winner, (scored by the best players in the world) to give the top seeds (and most deserving team) a win over the hosts - it seemed a little too perfect. Even better was the fact that things were decided in extra-time instead of the lottery of sudden-death or a shootout.

The only baffling thing was Australia failed to mark Jonny Wilkinson well enough, especially in the closing moments of the match when it was extremely obvious that a drop goal attempt was imminent. But then it was just meant to be.

The Reloading of Sherlock Holmes

I wonder if the great Sherlock Holmes would have been as successful and as magical in the modern age. Much of the Holmes deduction, for instance, being able to tell to a T, the profession and mental state of a person based on the impressions they left on his apparel or telling exactly what kind of cigar was smoked, or marks left on the muddy ground - things that in the stale homogeneity and unimpressionable plastic would probably not record for the piercing eyes of the sleuth. Everyone wears the same kinds of clothes, some people are wearing even lesser clothes than before. Roads are tarred, and it's not easy to decipher a road from the slush in its pothole.

Would the great Holmes have been equally triumphant in the modern world, where crime is more overt than ever before? Perhaps, for geniuses would know how to adjust to changing conditions. Maybe I, like the good Doctor, would have been able to spot the differences between my fellowmen, if only I observed instead of merely seeing...

On inertia and procrastination

I seem to be getting closer to the source of what causes procrastination. I believe it can be explained by the simple laws that govern much of physical activity. Many people have always kept telling us that we're made up both of matter and energy - and that we don't control our energy very well. Assuming that mental activity is subject to many of the laws that lord over the so-called material events, inertia is probably the culprit for procrastination.

Seriously! What else would explain the lack of motivation to do something, to postpone to another day that which can be done today? Mind you, though physical inertia works both ways, i.e. a body at rest continues to do so and a body in motion likes to keep going on its way, mental inertia usually prefers option A which translates to lying on the sofa or resting in the armchair. Or perhaps it is the same way as physical bodies in the real world - too much friction eventually causes the go-getter to grind to a halt. This mental friction is possibly the amount of effort one has to expend on an activity, which to the procrastinator is something that should be pickled and preserved, hopefully for that rainy day when the remote isn't to be found and a massive manhunt must be called in. The procrastinator is a calculating man, who carefully (and intuitively) measures the amount of effort to do something, and unless the effort is the same as that to be spent on saving the world, or atleast a minor county, he would like to give it a miss.

The procrastinator's idea of heaven is a place where everything can be controlled by thought and nothing else. He is willing to pay big bucks to finance such research. The procrastinator who is no longer alive must not be mourned - he has merely done his sums and found that it takes too much effort to go on living and it is contrary to his principles. After all, he practically invented the phrase - "Let sleeping dogs lie". All he asks for is the same treatment.

The Beast is here, where is the first party?

I am informed by my sources that the small garage/office/room in the ground floor of my apartment is to become a Beauty Parlour in its latest avatar. Whether this will lead to a general improvement in the milliHelen count of the local air is yet to be seen. Having never been fortunate enough to reside in the same vicinity as the latest moisturisers and assorted skin creams, I will, in the spirit of scientific enquiry, also observe if the combined mH values of the incoming and outgoing traffic shows any trends that can be captured in an equation.

I have read my last sentence above twice, and yes, it is now starting to look like a good excuse in case my increased lingering in the balcony comes in for comment.

Coincidences

Not everyone may like to believe in coincidences, but it can prove to be useful - not the actual coincidence but a belief in them. Otherwise those prone to suspicion and even paranoia would have an even tougher time. If you saw your son walk out into the street (apparently heading to his friend's house) at the same time as the neighbour's pretty young thing (that you detest), you might feel a stab of suspicion. Or when the street urchin starts to walk behind you and makes no obvious attempt to overtake you though you purposely lower your pace of walking, alarm bells would start to toll quietly. These could be coincidences - the girl has to go to her tuition classes and isn't interested in hooking up a romance and the urchin has no designs on your wallet. But to the conspiracy theorist, nothing ever happens by chance. Every action and event is triggered off by a definite interlinked purpose. He even has a law - "If two events can be connected and can lead to a cataclysmic super-evil-event, they will". Only he can't prove it.

Re-solution

In the season of "Re" words and breaking a long resolution to never make any more resolutions, I hereby resolve to Refrain from posting on films or cricket for the next week (the last few posts point to a further stunting of my mental growth). Whether that means a complete lack of posts is something to see.

Everything that has a beginning has an end...

... and this is true of movies too, long or interminable as they may seem sometimes. Functioning as brackets on either end of the feature are the credits which brings me to a grouse that Re-manifested itself yesterday after another shot at the Matrix Revolutions.

Most cinema-viewers don't have a high credit-rating, which in the movie theatre translates to being unfriendly towards end-credits. No sooner than the sun has set on the horizon (in the Matrix climax, the sun actually rises again) that the audience and makes a mad rush to the Exit. And pity you if you want to watch the credits - it's a very difficult experience. For one, people are blocking your line of sight. If you are still sitting, they're staring at you wondering if you're going to sneak under a seat and catch the next show for free. Or you're simply blocking their way. I'm still not a hard-nosed movie fan who can brush off these social castoffs, so I usually stand and read - it has the double advantage of assuring people I can walk and will make it to the egress point without aid, and also helps me peer over the head of the slow moving gorilla-family in the seats ahead.

More peer pressure from the people you watched the film with. Unless you have understanding companions (who understand that you're a nut and should be entertained and humoured lest you throw a tantrum) who are willing to twiddle their thumbs till you pore over the list of wire-artists and musicians. Some thumb-twiddlers are not as sensitive as them - they're more vocal about their Resentment. They may even hiss: "Don't you know the movie has ended?". No sir, that's where you make your error - no movie is truly over until the big Dolby sign flashes in.

This gross insensitivity towards credits must be quite disheartening for the unknown technicians and "extras" as there's often a great side-story in the credits themselves. Yesterday, as I was soaking in the long end credit sequences to the sounds of Navras, the theatre-guys threatened to vacuum me in, and then, horror of horrors, stopped the projection. Now I don't read each and every department and name, but I like to look at most of them. Like yesterday, there seemed to be no credit for Juno Reactor, only Don Davis. I can understand that stuff like that isn't appreciated by all, but pliss to humour me, saar.

So is the moral of the story "if you want to be noticed, put your name in the opening credit sequence"?. We dissolve into flashback as...

Ten Years Ago. INT-EXT (How else do you slot an open-air auditorium under a shamiana?)
DAY.

A bunch of kids from the 8th standard (from Section A, I may add, for these things mattered then) have just finished putting up their (Children's Day?) play in the allotted 15 minutes. They were naive enough to keep their credits-sequence at the end, when they thought all would come in front of the unruly school crowd to be introduced - no encores please. A big school-marm waves her hand: "No time, we're running late!". Disappointment.

Ten Minutes Later. INT-EXT. DAY.

A bunch of kids from the 8th standard (from the rival Section B) have just started putting up their (Children's Day?) play. Shame-o-shame! They start by introducing their cast-members and then go through the play. Evidently they had their priorities right. More disappointment for the 'A' guys.

Though I firmly believe that the credits should come at the end (which was one of the causes of the afore-mentioned 8th standard personal lesson), preferably with <role> : <person> kind of template, the be-dard audience doesn't care a hoot beyond the starry names. Nor do they pay any heed to some of the innovative/funny credit sequences that filmmakers provide. All those comedy films in Hindi and Tamil films that had titles with faces of the principal actors with cartoon bodies (Pandiaraajan films in particular) or like Chasm-e-Baddoor, or in films like Almost Famous, Sleepy Hollow, or Seven or English,August (with dialogues from the films peppering the names). For that matter, The Simpsons on most days, especially the Halloween specials. Probably my most favourite credit sequences are the one for the Pink Panther movies accompanied by those legendary pieces of music by Henry Mancini.

Matrix Revolutions Reloaded

The title of this post could be the next name Warner & Village Roadshow are looking for, but this is not about Re-incarnation. After my initial thoughts (in which I hinted at a possible Revisitation), had a double take at the last installment yesterday. I must say that my template held out a little with step 7 receiving a tiny vote of confidence. The Agyaan ke parde were lifting a little, and some of the stuff (especially the dialogues at the end) made a little more sense. I still have a few unanswered questions, but they can wait.

Obtained this link with yet another Matrix explanation (albeit a more interesting one) from the Golf Dude.

Sens, and Sensibility?

Amazing how many R* Sen actresses are these days, in fact most of them Ri* Sens. The set seems to be Ria, Rima, Rimi and Raima. Of which Raima is considered to be the one with the acting potential. Other Sens that I can think off the top of my head: Suchitra and Sushmita. (Have purposely left out Selene-Selena Sen).

Disclaimer: Only two puns on the words "Sen"/"Sens" were harmed during the making of this post. The large majority were left unmolested. Ask "sensitivity", "censure", "censor", "incense" (both common meanings), "presence", "absence" and other "-cences".

The Wisdom Tree Film Festival

The Film and Television Institute of India was in the news again - this time for all the right reasons instead of the usual negative reports of strikes and resignations. The current lot of students with the Graduates Association of the FTII, GRAFTII, organized a film festival over the last few days. It gave many of the alumni, including many illustrious names, a chance to come back and reminisce about their student days. The organizers in concert with a nearby multiplex also had screened a bunch of films that all seemed to have an FTII connection. These films were a mix of commercial and art features and documentaries. I couldn't attend except for Sunday, where I caught a few films. *** The best one I saw was Santosh Sivan's The Terrorist, exploring how a young suicide bomber (Ayesha Dharker in the role that brought her much acclaim) prepares to mount an assassination atttempt in the face of some searing personal revelations that could hold her hand. Santosh Sivan's sumptuous photography is a huge treat, as are the nerve-wracking moments especially towards the end.

An amusing sidelight accompanied this screening: there are atleast two language versions of The Terroristthat I know of, the original Tamil and a dubbed Hindi version. The lady selling the passes (a student of FTII) had no idea the film had a Tamil version when I asked her which one they were showing. She said it might be in Hindi, dubbed perhaps - which was disappointing as I could see that version on Zee Cinema but then the 100 minute movie would take 200 minutes to air! So I was better off watching whatever they screened. In the theatre, I sensed most of the audience didn't question that the film would be in Hindi (the theatre was about 45% full - most of them being from the film school - this wasn't a big name commercial film, remember) - though one or two were wondering if the English or Hindi version would be telecast! I could hardly stifle my chuckle at the anguished sighs being let out when the first dialogues were spoken - in Tamil - and at the consternation when we realised there were no sub-titles! Half the hall emptied - they would probably watch Godmother - so much that I, who by now had settled back in happiness, started to half-worry if the screening would be cancelled! Still, the remaining people in the hall too had started to watch the film intently. I heard one Tamilian guy translate much of the sparse dialogue (true to his leanings, the cinematographer-director chose to speak out more with images) to his friend while another said "Forget the story - let's watch the photography, maan" - perhaps he was a cinematography student which would've made Sivan (himself a student in that subject in the early 80s) quite happy.

*** Didn't watch the night screening of Sholay because there would've been an immense rush - the passes were not for a particular film but for an entire day - you could walk in to any show but FCFS was the seating algorithm. Considering what I saw at the afternoon show of Baghban where some people had no choice but to sit on the floor at the sides, Sholay would have been the true illustration of house-full. I wish they'd re-release Sholay (they could've done it in 2000 for the 25th anniversary) in the theatres in a big way, perhaps with the original ending. The Sippys are missing out on a huge opportunity here. *** If it hadn't been for the schedules conflicting with work, I would've liked to have caught Raghu Romeo, Ezhavathu Manithan (a relative of mine made this one), Nizhalkoothu and even Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (would've been very appropriate given the FTII background). *** Baghban was surprisingly good, despite a tendency to get just a touch over-sentimental at times but even those situations weren't too contrived. Though one might consider it an upper-class incarnation ( pun-obviously-intended) of Avtaar, Baghban was leagues better. What does the film credit is the casting, most of it was excellent and felt Amitabh had truly done a magnificent job. Harish had a good summation (will link when I have a chance) that I'd agree with. I liked some of the songs too - one pat for Aadesh Shrivastava.

Trivia alerts: Harish mentions that Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar contributed to the climax but were uncredited (IIRC). Careful perusal of the credits showed the name Salim Khan under Additional Dialogues but no Javed Akhtar. Whoever wrote the dialogues for AB's speech at the end - hats off.
This film (and not Hungama which released earlier is Rimi Sen's debut film (according to the opening credits).

Filmi Typo: AB the author is said to have won the "Booker's Prize".

The Holi song sequence gives rise to a small question: are the songs in Silsila (with AB) and Sholay (with Hema Malini) the two most yaadgaar Holi songs in Bollywood history?

Top spin Down Under

ESPN-Star in their buildup to the upcoming Indian Test series in Australia have these promos where one of the voices that can be heard is of Ian Chappell saying (paraphrased) "Probably the only team that has a chance of beating Australia is India". Which may sound extremely flattering and even downright un-Chappell-like given his recent hardhitting articles that have touched the topic, including this full-length piece on the subject.

Assuming that Chappell senior does not usually bet on the weaker side, the quote used by ESPN-Star must be probably be (a) Out of context (b) Made during the days when India was doing rather well in some of the previous one-day series (c) Because he grossly underestimates his own national side. ESPN-Star, fine channels that they may be, cannot help but add sentiment and spin to one of the biggest sporting series from the Indian point of view with the juicy prospects from the business angle. They did this last time too, and perhaps contributed in some measure to the great feeling of disgruntlement that emerged when we failed to win anything and ended up proving Mr. Lele right. Let's hope people have more realistic expectations this time. But the good news will be that though the team may not come through with victories except for a small miracle, there will be the prospect of some great commentary involving the Aussies, the Indians, perhaps even some Englishmen and if we're really lucky - No Sidhu!

It's not The Matrix Resolutions, dummy!

I've watched all three episodes in the definitive mainstream movie trilogy of recent cinema in the theatre (where they should be watched, btw) and each time I seem to have followed the following template:

1. Go in with great wonderment after being dazzled by the trailers.
2. Be spectacularly assaulted by the combination of SFX and ultra-metaphysical dialogue.
3. At the end of the movie, share with everyone the sense of trying to make some personal justifications for the movie.
4. Pretend to put on a grave face that suggests I may have comprehended what I just saw, while all the time asking myself "do I think I understood all that?"
5. Read a whole lot of stuff on the Internet, from the movie scripts to myriad interpretations of the plots and sub-threads.
6. Watch the film again, obtaining a better understanding of the tangle.
7. Come out with only some of my questions answered and with a feeling of having some control over the film.

I haven't done step 6 yet for The Matrix Revolutions, so I will be honest enough in saying that I'm still not sure I understood what the implications of the ending really are. I'm one of those who are always inclined to give the benefit of doubt to some filmmakers and believe that they're not trying to rip us out of our money without having a purpose in their story, but despite that, after my first pass, I felt the Bros. W finally ran out of steam with the plot. Even if they may have actually answered all the infinite question marks, the discontent prevailing among some viewers at least charges them of not making the end less abstruse. At the same time, I would like to think the makers did have a definite idea to their ending, perhaps I don't have the intellect to comprehend it. In their defence, spiritual texts themselves are nothing "but words", to echo a character from the third film, open to interpretation and obfuscations, and don't always yield simple explanations of life as known by a human - so one needs to put in the requisite intellectual homework to comprehend any philosophical (m)utterings before refuting or disparaging them - be it God or a couple of filmmakers.

Anyway, too much was expected of the film's philosophical content - the trilogy no doubt provided a lot of fodder for thought and debate, but people had no right to expect grand revelations at the end : a pop explanation of our lives in a total of about 8 hours isn't easy to achieve. People may have liked a complete set of answers at the end of the film like we had in our maths textbooks, but that wouldn't have been in keeping with the internal filmmaking logic of the series.Still, there was enough to take home from Revolutions, though some of the loose threads are still tripping everyone up.

Moviewise, I found the grandiloquent exercise in the effects quite exciting, the watching-a-video-game-played-by-someone-else effect notwithstanding, though the extensive Zion bang-bang battle was overstretched, IMO. All the while, we couldn't wait to get back to Neo and Trinity in the parallel thread, for wasn't it clearly established that that's where the key to the battle would lie? Also, the final denouement with Agent Smith (so clearly established by the rain-soaked trailers) also beckoned once the film got into its last hour. They could've spent more time further embellishing the ultimate question-of-questions: of Neo's purpose.

The soundtrack with all the Hindu shlokas and chants (I thought the Asatoma Sadhgamaya (a.k.a Navras) piece was quite appropriate given the final sequences) was quite unexpected - with credits to Don Davis and Juno Reactor.

Still, the trilogy has come a long way - a great exercise in a complex plot that may have bombed without a trace if it wasn't for the now legendary visual sequences. So my favourite episode? Visually speaking, it would be the First - it will be remembered as truly pathbreaking. And surprisingly, in terms of content, I really liked Reloaded. I didn't think the plot would develop further after the first movie as in four years, for the tough concept would have finally sunk in and I didn't believe anyone would try to crank the esoteric plot any deeper. But that's exactly what they did. And probably paid the price too for it too - as it led to an uncontrollable and unsustainable tangle of ideas, concepts and questions that may prove to be the doom of the Revolutions.

Maybe my opinion will change after steps 6 & 7.

An American in Punya-nagari

Bret Battey has a Doctorate in Musical Arts and researches a mix of music, computers and algorithms. On a Fulbright scholarship from September 2001 to August 2002, he spent time in India researching "Hindustani classical music and creating software for modeling of ornaments and pitch curves in the melodic tradition". During this trip, he also carried with him a laptop, a camera and a microphone, and penned a fine journal of his experiences of that time. He called it The Bat Report: A Fulbrighted Bat in India.

I chanced upon The Bat Report (when I was verifying questions on Pune that I was setting for a quiz) because Bret Battey stayed in Pune, in fact he stayed about a couple of kilometers away from my house and described in detail his stay in Pune and his travels throughout the country. He also took some good photographs of everyday life (not the usual wide-eyed tourist snaps) and recorded sounds that are a part-and-parcel of India (such as cheers at a cricket match, the monsoon).

I spent a lot of my spare time reading the Battey Journal and it was completely worth it. He spent enough time here to see beyond the usual facades that are presented to the normal firangii, and his observations are free from stereotypes providing a great insight into Indian lives. He shows a genuine interest and tolerance for a different way of life, though it did get rather annoying and frustrating for him at times, despite his personal attempts to retain his equanimity. A spiritual angle emerges soon, he talks about the Vipassana course he undertook and the difficulties in what seems rather simple at first.

This is a whole-hearted, unqualified plug for the journal written by someone who is genuinely interested in the world around him. I wrote him a mail of appreciation and he was kind enough to respond. Suddenly, all the quotidian sights around me seemed to have been refreshed with the new perspective of someone who found it a novel experience.

Blog Dilemmas - I

With an increase in the number of people who blog, one can clearly differentiate the different kinds of bloggers based on content. Inescapable is the fact that some play the role of self-journalist, where everything they do is carefully documented. So when one meets and talks with such a blogger, one may feel the effects of the Heisenbergian dilemma. Since one knows that there is a good chance that the current conversation may make its way into the next day's postings, one may behave differently - the blogger's self-(de)scribing reputation has converted the encounter into an on-the-record public meeting, and since the self-(styled?) journo has no sense of journalistic ethics, it is better to be safe than to find one's not-so-humble opinions and sacred hangouts be the subject of a blog-splash to the accompaniment of stinging comments.

I have not yet met or endured this type of blogger yet, but it is a distinct possibility in the future. Then we will all be public figures with a nasty private life and at the same time, will be out to snare some other unsuspecting citizen to meet the insatiable demand for the next day's post.

Post script a.k.a feeble humour: Was the late and great Ashok Kumar (R.I.P) being prescient when he kept warning us: Kya Chhutkii BaDhkii se mil paayegii? Aagle hafte dekhe.nge hum-BLog. (On other thoughts, perhaps he meant humble log).

A name for it - QLC

Quarter Life Crisis, the child of the well-known Mid Life Crisis is in vogue these days. Unlike a lot of other psychological buzz-words, there is more than just a hint of truth to this feeling among the current generation of 20-pluses. As a member of that group, I can testify to a collection of feelings and questions inside me and among acquaintances that are being put under this title.

Even the normally sybaritic Pune Times of India devoted an article to the topic, featuring a quote that was the immediate provocation for this post. Dr. Mohan Agashe, who also happens to be a local psychiatrist, said this was because "... of the insatiable greed (of this age-group)" and how "they wanted everything much earlier than the earlier generation". I was (understandably) a little peeved at the first part of the comment and decided to delve into it further.

What does he mean by "greed"? Greed for material benefits such as money or luxurious accompaniments? If so, I wouldn't agree. A great deal of the anxiety and restlessness that is a mark of this "syndrome" (if we can call it so) is not really for the amount of cash one is making, but revolves around the kind of work one is doing (or will get to do) and the contentment that one expects out of it. A comparison with earlier generations would not be incorrect in this respect. 25 years ago, the emphasis for most people seeking to be employed was to settle down and secure their posts before even beginning to think about further opportunities. All things like getting married for e.g. were highly dependent on being gainfully and securely employed in a manner that inspired confidence in all around you. These days, it isn't a matter of surprise to see people hopping jobs like a kangaroo on steroids - it is even considered a sign of a person's vitality and desire to avoid "stagnation", increasing that which gives HR pros missed hearbeats i.e. "attrition". There is consequently a greater range of options available - which is probably part of the problem. Consider this - haven't we all found ourselves in situations where the glut of choices causes a breakdown in our decision-making abilities?

Another aspect that I found myself thinking a great deal about was the role of our present-day icons, those whom we are fans and admirers of. The average age of achievers in many of the glamourous/popular fields is always getting lower. Women tennis stars are considered old by the age of 27, anyone in cricket who hasn't made his debut by the age of 26 is considered to have missed the bus, sportsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, P. Harikrishna have constantly set "the youngest to" records. Other celebrities like A.R.Rahman, Kareena Kapoor, Dhanush, started off and achieved filmi fame pretty early in life. Or take someone who is supposed to be a success - Sabeer Bhatia or the endless line of dotcom kids. It then leads to comparisons between the lay-person of the same age. For instance, if I hear someone's born in the mid-80s, they must be kids compared to me. The victorious Indian under-19 squad has players born in the years '84 or later. I know I am not in the same sphere as them, but it just makes one wonder as to how kids much younger than one have now grown up sufficiently to make an impact in the world. The media does carry a great number of stories on young achievers (who get younger each day) and probably fuel a sub-conscious feeling of comparison which may lead to a feeling of inadequacy. Not to suggest that this is only a recent phenomenon. There is a story of Napoleon lamenting his life when he was in his twenties, the reason being that his hero, Alexander, had conquered almost all the known world when he was at the same age as Napoleon, and look where Napoleon was.

I think the above is a fair comparison - the previous generation didn't see the lower age-threshold of success being pushed down so much. Perhaps we need to highlight examples like Amitabh Bachchan's who had a pretty low-key (and at times, disappointing) life until almost his 30s. Or do we have to go as far as Clarie Grimmett who made his Test debut at age 33 and went on to be one of the best? There must be a number of instances in business and politics, like Gandhi perhaps? Many of the weightier occupations in life probably need people marinated in experiences to provide success - unlike the more fleeting and more public occupations of music & film & sport that can be fuelled by sheer talent. Does this, therefore, point the finger back at us?

Perhaps, but not entirely. I think many of us do not want to be performing mundane jobs, that too by spending longer hours. But the reality remains that even today, a large majority of the workplace have to do jobs that are repetitive or don't demand creativity, but are nevertheless important to the economic system. This comes with the added lure of reducing "risk" in life. Many of the creative vocations involve a great deal of insecurity - which for most practitioners of that field, except for those who are exceptional at it, is an undeniable and accepted part of the territory. So it boils down to choice again. Unless one was incredibly talented at something or in contrast, was completely hopeless at everything except some domain, the rest of us have a choice as to what we want to pursue. An analysis of the perceived investment, returns, security follows - with the low-risks being triumphant on most occasions. So does one have the nerve to take a gamble - with one's life - and accept the result of that gamble?

A small search on Google threw up a site that's called Quarter Life Crisis. It has a series of links to articles in various publications, of which I found this article from NYT (needs registration) very descriptive of the malaise. I'm not sure I'd term it a crisis in the overall scheme of things, but it does seem like a crisis at that age because many of us may not have had to grapple with even more critical problems yet.

So to disagree with Dr. Agashe, a lot of us are actually questioning how we spend each day, and these queries don't involve how much money we're making (though it shouldn't be seen to be wrong for those who aspire to earn money through legal means). It's also a question of whether we've made the right choices and if we'd have the chance and the flexibility to undo that choice. I was also watching a excerpt from a lecture by Stephen Covey (author of the "Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People") who says that most organizations agree that their employees are not encouraged to be more creative and their potential is being under-utilised. But how can these organizations conjure up or modify job profiles that actually can be less mundane? That seems to be fundamentally impossible. So some are doomed to feel less satisfied - there are aren't enough "exciting" jobs to go around. So perhaps it's the insecurity of not knowing if the right choices have been made that's causing all the anxiety in addition to people worrying if they have missed the bus unlike their "successful" peers who're being feted in the papers.

That's a lot of psycho-babble for one day :-)

After the Revolutions

This post is a little overdue. For the first time I watched a film FDFS and participated in the great marketing gimmick that was the release of The Matrix Revolutions. Got a bit to say, and will soon.

The South African Geniuses

Reading an excerpt from the writings of Bob Woolmer clarified a couple of interesting tidbits about the South African cricket team that were sometimes considered to be apocryphal. The former South Africa and Warwickshire Coach confirms that Stephen Waugh did indeed tell Herschelle Gibbs after the latter infamously dropped the Aussie captain and turned the fate of the World Cup, the words according to Woolmer being: What does it feel like to drop the World Cup, Herschelle?. Woolmer also says that Umpire Venkat at square leg was of the opinion that the ball had been in control for a sufficient time, but Peter Willey at the bowler's end (whose decision it was) thought it wasn't.

Woolmer, on another rather famous incident that was used by many as an IQ test score to rate the wooly-headed South Africans, notes the incident where one player running on the beach in Sri Lanka during an exercise session said "Gee, it's hot. I can hardly breathe. What altitude are we at?" and was promptly awarded the prize for the most ridiculous comment of the week. Contrary to popular notion that this player was Jacques Kallis, it actually was Adam Bacher. Kallis may be innocent of that charge, but there are two other stories offered in exchange: The team had reached Sri Lanka via Singapore. This confused Kallis who thought it was part of Sri Lanka. Even better - after bowling ten overs on the trot, Kallis welcomed the drinks trolley by saying "Thank God! Some more petrol for my radiator".

RKL Note

R.K.Laxman (who suffered a severe illness a few months ago) has been cartooning again as the reappearance of newer versions of his legendary You Said It pocket cartoon and various other illustrations in The Times of India in the last few weeks will testify. But last week, it was very clearly visible that full recovery hasn't yet happened for there were a few strips that were lacking the sharpness in the artwork - some of the usual caricatures were not well drawn suggesting that it isn't coming out of the hand consistently. Can only wish him full recovery and a return to his best form.

My ten favourite A.R.Rahman albums

(A current list in no particular order - with Rahmanonline helping to jog the memory)

1. Roja: Undoubtedly heralded a new sound, popularised modern sound engineering techniques and gave us the first tastes of now classic ARR touches of flutes, unconventional song syntax and unorthodox playback voices.
2. ThiruDa ThiruDa: Classic Mani Ratnam-Rahman collaboration that set screens alive with the synergy of choreography, music and photography. One of the most innovative scores in the Rahman collection.
3. Pudhiya Mugam: This one is also from 1993 - the year that had a lot of goodies. More melody than before with the guitar in July Maadham and violins in NeTTru illaadha MaaTram sounding great.
4. Duet: A partnership with Kadri Gopalnath's saxophone that established Rahman's versatility a great deal.
5. Iruvar: A period score with a difference. Perfectly complemented what Mani Ratnam was trying to do with the film - a potent combination of the director, music director, Vairamuthu and Santosh Sivan created magic that sadly very few seemed to have seen or appreciated. More on this later.
6. Dil Se: Loved the range on this one: from the hardcore commercial Chaiyya Chaiyya to the experimental Tu hii Tu marked the first collaboration with Gulzar and added to the romantic passion that underlies the film.
7. Ka.nDukonDain Ka.nDukonDain: If you think Rahman relies almost entirely on rhythm, perhaps this will change your opinion. Probably has the perfect aNDu-GunDu title :-). Excellent picturisation adds to the appreciation.
8. Lagaan: For the first time, I understood how powerful and creative the lyrics in a Hindi film song could be. Javed Akhtar's lyrics make great listening along with the tunes. O Rii Chorii is my unlikely favourite.
9. The Legend Of Bhagat Singh: This has grown on me favourably in the last year. For me, it is another reminder of the versatility of the composer. Sarfaroshi kii Tamanna is a standout piece.
10. Indira or Alaipayuthe or Minsaara Kanavu or 1947-Earth or Rhythm would tie for this last spot.

World Cup Rugby - Nearing the touchline

The 2003 Rugby World Cup (earlier thoughts) currently on in Australia is now moving into its most exciting and decisive phase - the semifinal pairings have just been decided. New Zealand set up a dream Trans-Tasman clash with Australia (who're also defending their title at home), while co-favourites England are up against European rivals France (who lost to Australia in last time's final). Only England had a difficult quarter-final when they were pushed by Wales. One of my sentimental favourites Ireland couldn't give the French a scare.

Mad about Adam

Here's a great feature on one of my most favourite individuals, Adam Gilchrist. I've been a great fan of this ace all-rounder from a long time and the article does a lot of justice to him. However, it misses one point that more than characterises the Aussie stumper (though it focusses on his decision to walk in the 2003 World Cup Semi Final) - Adam Gilchrist is often the first to applaud a batsman when that chap reaches any sort of landmark. A quick word (of praise, I'm sure) and sometimes a handshake follows at the end of the over before Adam Craig Gilchrist walks the 22 yards to take his place.

The News from TN

TN Politics is making the same kind of nasty headlines as usual and this time everyone in the country is taking notice of what has become a routine JJ vs the rest battle. Anti has a bit to say on the latest provocation here

There's another aspect to this battle that we at home (away from the hurly-burly here in Pune) take keen interest in following: the role of the Tamil TV Channels in all of this. In particular, the two channels Sun TV and Jaya TV that have open political affiliations and serve as mouth-pieces for their respective political owners. Political agendas in the media are usually not as blatantly voiced as in these channels and one can actually see the same facts being reported (actually there is never any straightforward reportage - there is heavy topspin in the kind of language used to describe any event) in such a different manner that they're actually contradictory.

In the latest row over the AIADMK-motivated attempts to punish The Hindu, the news-stories as they appeared in today's afternoon bulletins (Jaya TV at 12.30 pm and Sun TV at 1.30 pm) amply illustrate this. Jaya TV headlined their story as "Many political leaders and the people on the streets welcome the decision to the sentence of the journalists" (paraphrased). The actual report had exactly one "leader" read out a statement in support of the AIADMK. This was the Hindu MuNNaNi, a party which is almost insignificant on the political map. There was no mention of any other leaders in support, which is pretty obvious considering everyone else other than the ruling party has taken umbrage (they dare not say otherwise). Coming to what was a "cross-section" of apparently common men (ranging from shopkeepers to drivers), the story tried to show how the decision was "welcomed" by the man on the street to punish those who dishonoured the legislature. What seemed interesting was the common choice of words that most of these used while speaking on camera.
Sun TV, on the other hand, didn't have to resort to the sampling because there is enough against the TN Govt. in this case to beat upon. But the way they presented their news item remains true to their style. Referring to the Bangalore incident on Saturday night where N.Ram, his brother N.Murali and their wives were stopped by people allegedly from the TN Police who were trying to arrest the third brother N.Ravi (who has been charged and sentenced). N.Ram described how they (including his driver from whom the car keys were snatched) had an exchange with these men who couldn't find what they were looking for. Sun TV chose to describe it thus as to what happened when these alleged policemen realised their mistake: "... avargaL thappi ODinaargaL", which could be translated as "they escaped" or "they fled" - which could be considered a spin on the facts.

This is old hat of course, those who followed the news on both these news sources during the recent TN Govt. employees strike would have noticed how contradictory even the facts were. The present CM always manages to overreach herself in her vengeance, but others before her have been no less guilty.

Bappi-da in the flesh

I chanced to see the latest crop of Remix videos and was arrested by the sight of one particularly interesting clip - the kind of clip that renders abbreviations like ROTFLMAO woefully inadequate. Because Bappi Lahiri has decided to fight back - and how! A remix of his own. The credits seem like a page from the Lahiri ration card: Music by the heir, Bappa Lahiri, Voice by Reema Lahiri (not sure if I got her name correct) and best of all - lots and lots of flesh.

With music videos, one is bombarded with visions of tons of skin to pick and choose from. But I'm not sure any music video has boasted of so much flesh per pixel like the video for Gorii hai kalaiya.n: because Bappi-da decides to shame Adnan Sami into hiding by putting on a typically ground-shattering, gold-plated performance, no doubt sending his fans into a tizzy exclaiming: yeh hai asli mijuk ka baap!

The Matrix is also brown now

As the credits for The Matrix Revolutions show, there are Indian-type characters joining the multi-racial cast: Kamala and Sati are in. Does Rama-Kandra qualify too?.

The main question: Will the movie justify the immense hype and smart marketing campaign? Hope to find out later this evening.

Fleming complains - again!

Tsk, Tsk. He's at it again. Though I respect Stephen Fleming a lot, this tendency of his to be a little annoying at times continues. In his interview here, Fleming cribs about the early starts that mean more swing and seam movement making life a little challenging for the batsmen. Since Ponting didn't start the complaint, it bears out the theory that it's usually the losers who crib. I could've understood if the Aussies complained about Gwalior, which was keeping slow. They didn't because they knew it could also go in their favour another day. Which it did at Mumbai. The NZ complaint is like India saying the Sydney wicket took spin too early. Games in England always follow this pattern. When we have belters from ball 1, the team that wins the toss again has a big advantage. Have they heard of the Eden Gardens and Lord's, where the toss is crucial? What would have happened if the Aussies had batted first in either of the two games? Would the Black Caps have been good enough to bowl them out? The New Zealanders could've easily pulled Pune off if it wasn't for butter fingers.

The BCCI is right in taking a stand that says India could be affected by the day-night games equally - for the team batting first has won on both occasions. NZ got a day-nighter in Chennai that got rained off. And why shouldn't the hosts enjoy an advantage in the schedule? It's all gloriously ironical when Fleming says "So much rides on the toss. At least in New Zealand it seams for 100 overs, here it seams for 25 and after that it's a belter". Does that explain why Australia struggled to win at Pune?

The "revenge" may not have happened from the hands of the Indian players, but I'm sure a lot of people are chuckling away at how NZ are getting a taste of their medicine at the hands of the Aussies - the matches are turning out such that the NZ guys are getting all the heartaches. I like the NZ team, but they're not my #2 team in the series. India has finally woken up to the fact that lots of things in international cricket are not fair and have usually gone against them. Also, gone are the days when comments from a visiting skipper (especially from a Anglo-Saxon nation) would have us quaking in our boots and scurrying to over-compensate. Flem has to cop it this time, I'm afraid. Or learn to leave the ball outside his off-stump alone. Not all the NZ wickets that fell were because of the pitch or weather.

Change in template

Colours change in this blog after quite a while - a result of some honest html fiddling. If there's any trouble with anyone's favourite browser, I'd like to know - sadly, I'll try to keep it looking good for the ones I use i.e. Netscape/Mozilla. It's not completely settled down yet though.

Notes on the skipper

In every discussion involving the topics of leadership, I have found myself discussing examples from the world of cricket. It always turns out to be quite a worthwhile exercise and I decided to delve deeper into why it should be so. It has a lot of layers to it.

Captaincy in cricket has always been much debated and discussed; captaincy in the game is viewed upon by observers as a great achievement and honour, and has been invested with greater awe than in other sports. For instance, in other team sports like football or hockey or even basketball, the coach-manager seems to hold prime position, which means the responsibility of tactics and strategy, of motivation and results lie ultimately on him, and it is his head that will be called to be placed on the block when things go wrong. In cricket, all of the above is more of the captain's job - the coach is just a senior guide. A reasonable analogy would be that the skipper is the King, the coach the chief counsellor. Other semi-team events like the Davis Cup primarily have non-playing captains, while the top players concentrate only on their matches and not the overall picture. Captains in all these games apart from cricket (by "captain" here I mean the leader on the field) is usually the most inspirational or senior and responsible player in the side (take for e.g. Keane of Manchester United or Dhanraj in Indian Hockey). These are more influential by what they do in the course of their performance, or being creative in their sport - they don't have the same degree of responsibility towards their other teammates as that of a cricket captain.

A cricket captain, on the other hand, has to think of hundred and one items to do - this in addition to watching out for his own performance. That's the reason why many times, captains in cricket do not have to be the best players in their team, nor do they have to be very senior. The whole range of skills are different than from captains in other sports. For instance, a captain in the field must worry about bowling options and changes, about covering the large field of play with the 11 resources at hand, of over-rates and quota of bowlers, of whom to bowl at the death, of specialised tactics for some batsmen. The batting captain doesn't have it all that easy as well - batting orders, timing the declaration, sending out messages to speed up the rate are some of the duties is he ultimately responsible for. It helps if he has a line saying "am usually lucky with the toss" on his CV. Motivation falls in his kitty too - at least the best captains do it. It isn't that difficult to understand why not all captains can maintain their previous performances in this situation.

So in essence, a cricket captain is like a manager of his resources, but this does not mean a reduction in his original duties as a player, for that is his primary purpose. He can't be an MBA in Cricketing Management without being a graduate in one of the disciplines of Cricket, if you know what I mean :-). That must make life really tough for a cricket captain. How does a leader motivate or even rebuke another player if his own output isn't upto the mark? Add the fact that great individual talent or brilliant cricketing acumen is no guarantee of success - some of the best captains have just been fortunate to be in the right place at the right time with the right team.

Coming back to the original motivation, I found that examples of leadership (for purposes of study and comparison) in other fields are difficult to obtain in detail. For instance, corporate, political or military leadership isn't readily apparent - the leaders carry out their ideas in relative privacy and in the presence of only a few people. In any field, results often decide whether a decision was good or not, but some tough ideas that may seem bad to others but are actually far-sighted can best be implemented without having to explain the purposes to all and sundry all the time. In cricket, the decisions are taken in full public glare, especially in front of many self-proclaimed pundits. Things can go haywire very easily - the difference between a poor call and a stroke of genius is almost invisible (there are so many instances of this). The leader can only take a chance - the player designated to carry it out has to deliver. He may have done it in the past, but may not be able to repeat it again. Again, these are routine dilemmas that leaders in all fields have to contend with, but it's so much more difficult to do it in the presence of instant feedback.

Cricket captaincy can turn players into sobbing wrecks (Kim Hughes of Australia), make ordinary players look like geniuses (Mike Brearley of England), raise questions of criticism against the most loved of all players (Sachin Tendulkar of India), raise a player to almost a feudal lord (Imran Khan of Pakistan), in addition to making them ambassadors for their nation expected to set an example to all. Success in captaincy can hide many flaws and can shower tremendous respect on whom the mantle has rested with ease. It can also singe great players, whom the remark "but he failed at captaincy" drags down from his pedestal. Every player with any aspirations to long-lasting fame in cricket hopes to do it through the route of captaincy, very few can truly recognise that there might be a possibility that they may not be suited for the job.

Harsha Bhogle and his wife conduct corporate seminars where they use episodes from cricket as a means to let participants discuss the business world and obtain lessons to use in any way they wish (not entirely sure of what happens there). I wonder if captaincy is something which is highlighted. I find it a fascinating way of learning about types of leadership, challenges faced, decisions taken, results obtained - it can be related to more easily. Perhaps management students are perusing case-studies or someone's doing a doctoral dissertation on it for years! I think the pace of cricket is suited to developing and testing leadership skills like these - whether it be the quick, difficult, extreme pressure and pace of one-day cricket or the more involved strategies, looking for opportunities, responding to changing conditions of the longer version resulting in lessons that mirror situations in other fields. And these can be easily learnt - for free.

Ash Bash-ing

Ok, I shall bite: is Aishwarya Rai such a big star that people are going nuts that she's turned 30? I mean I can understand people going crazy if her age was counting down or something: "Oh, she will be a sweet 16 again someday!" Ok, I'm being mean and perhaps it isn't really her fault that everyone's going gaga, but she's definitely milking the occasion too.

As you can see, I'm not one of those who go "Rah, Rah Rai!" over the lady. As an actress, I don't think usne kuch khaas tiir maare.n hai.n, that in an age where some rather pretty Indian actresses are actually doing well. I don't even think she in the top 4 or 5 current mainstream Hindi actresses (if it wasn't for all those qualifiers, she's be even lower). Checking her filmography at IMDB out (instead of her), I see ~4 hits - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Taal, Kandukondain Kandukondain and two half hits in Jeans and Devdas (may be a little wrong) - not too bad in a 7 year career. But where is the acting, dearie? I may be completely biased here, having only seen her work at length in Iruvar and Kandukondain..., where I thought she was good in the first and competent in the second, but I haven't seen her being discussed much as an actress.

Naah, I must be biased - I was among the many people who backed Sushmita Sen over her in their head-to-heads in 1993-94-95 (blame it on my wide-eyedness and the age 13-14-15). Today I back neither as actresses. She is lucky to get decent offers, but until they really explode in my face, all the fans will have a carper in me.

Another pet peeve is public calling her "Ash". I mean, are they her <start coarse Tamil phrase> maamaa or machaa.n <end coarse Tamil phrase> (Translated to are they related to her in any close way?) to cut her name one-third? There's something that annoys me about it when every Tom, Dick and Harry calls her that, establishing some sort of acquaintanceship with her. I'm a little worried, do I like her sub-consciously to take affront? But it's not the same as saying SRK or Sachin or Rahul or Big B, it's like if everyone if said Chi-Chi (Govinda recently complained about how everyone calls him that without even really knowing him) or Bebo or Lolo (these Kapoor khandan guys sure had a kink for the alliteration) or Lee-Hesh or Atal or something.

So coming back to the original poser: does she deserve such hoopla being festooned over her? Not yet atleast. Compare with some other star birthday celebrations of late. Amitabh's birthday has been a subject of hype and coverage in keeping with his resurgence of late. At 61, I wouldn't grudge him that. Sachin Tendulkar's thirtieth was also splashed on the front pages - but in cricket, especially for a batsman, 30 is a milestone. Careers last only till 35-38, so turning 30 for a long-serving player can be a time for recollection, assessment and change in expectations. Now we look at it as a list like: needs to get to 35 Test centuries, India's first 300+ Test innings, 12000 Test runs, even 150 wickets in ODI bowling perhaps? Also, we've all grown up watching SRT now, a little protective affection is inevitable. Ms. Rai on the other hand - long way to go yet. It's not as if she was the young Sachin of the film industry or she's even done a Sehwag there. Maybe at 40, with successful international productions, genuinely carrying a film (however awful) only with her performance and even a Bond-dame later perhaps? If she can avoid the pitfalls of the regular Bollywood heroine at 40 and still have people going crazy then, yes, on November 1 2013, I shall join the rest in offering more than the routine birthday wish.

Yes, I know I come from a land where film actor's birthdays are celebrated each year by their respective rasikar manDrams by pasting posters on every free inch of wall space, but isn't Bollywood the "leader of Indian Cinema" ;-)

Satyajit Bhatkal's book on the making of Lagaan documents how the director grappled with the idea of giving Aamir Khan a look that included a departure from his usual clean-shaven appearance, which would be in tune with the period. They eventually dropped the idea because I guess they didn't want to dilute what was going to be their biggest calling card to counter-balance all the difficulties the film was going to provide: the immense appeal of the lead actor.

As I had expressed earlier, Aamir Khan has rarely, despite his reputation as a "different" actor, experimented with looks and characters (DCH wasn't the rule). It's good to see, hence, that in the upcoming film on the 1857 uprising by Ketan Mehta, Aamir gets long locks and a thick moustache.